‘Don’t want to overthink it’

Although the Bangladesh team has come in for scathing criticism from all corners due to their poor performances at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan is confident the Tigers can turn things around with a win against the West Indies in Sharjah today, an encounter that has shaped into a do-or-die contest for both teams.

There were no controversial statements during the virtual pre-match press conference yesterday, but Sohan exuded optimism while delicately answering every question.

"It's nothing new. Whenever we fail, there will be criticism. But it's important to have healthy criticism. Yes, we have to accept that we are not doing well but there were many occasions in the past where we managed to bounce back when our backs were against the wall. I think if we do well in the remaining three matches, things will positively favor us," Sohan told the media yesterday.

Things unraveled for Bangladesh in each of their Super 12 games so far as the Tigers first failed to defend a challenging 171-run total against Sri Lanka before the batting department failed miserably against England.

When quizzed about the areas that the Tigers would like to improve against the West Indies, Sohan replied: "There is always a different situation in every game. We had a different situation against Sri Lanka and it will be different against West Indies. I think the first six overs in the Powerplay, both with bat and ball, will direct where the game heads. So I think it's important for us to cope with the situation in the Powerplay."

There was also talk that the small Sharjah ground would favour the West Indies side, who like to play power cricket. According to Sohan, that issue was discussed in the team meeting.

"Before we played in Sharjah, we heard that the wicket was not producing enough runs and that 140-150 was a good enough total to defend. But we were unable to win even after scoring 171 against Sri Lanka. So it will depend on the tomorrow's (Friday's) pitch and how it behaves will be very crucial for us. But before that, we don't want to overthink it. Obviously, the West Indies are a very good side and powerful. We discussed it in the team meeting and we will try to do the basics right."

Bangladesh can take positives from the fact that they have a good record against the Caribbean side, with five wins from 12 encounters.

A majority of those wins have come in recent times and given that the West Indies also lost their first two games in the Super 12, Bangladesh will be hoping to bounce back today.